Origins of liberalization According to the official statement of the CCP, the concept of "
bourgeois liberalization" was first proposed by
Deng Xiaoping. On December 25, 1980, he asserted the need to oppose bourgeois liberalization in his speech "Implementing Adjustments and Guaranteeing Stability and Unity, mentioning "the tendency to criticize and oppose the tendency to worship
capitalism and advocate bourgeois liberalization." In 1983, conservatives within the Chinese Communist Party launched a political campaign to "
Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign." In October of the same year, Deng Xiaoping said that "the erroneous views of the "left" in ideological and theoretical aspects still need to continue to be criticized and corrected. However, it should be clearly pointed out that the current ideological front must first focus on solving the problems, which is to correct the right,
weakness and laxity." On May 20, 1985, Deng Xiaoping said when meeting with Taiwanese Professor Chen Guying: "Our
mainland adheres to socialism and does not take the evil path of capitalism."
1986 Chinese student demonstrations As China's reform and opening up continues, various problems such as official collapse, power-for-money trading,
corruption, and
privileges have emerged in Chinese society, and economic reform has also encountered obstacles from the original political system. Starting from the first half of 1986, Deng Xiaoping once again proposed "political reform" and launched the discussion and formulation of "political system reform." In September of the same year, the "
Central Political System Reform Research Group" was established, with members including
Zhao Ziyang,
Hu Qili,
Tian Jiyun,
Bo Yibo, and
Peng Chong. At the same time, on September 28, 1986, the Sixth Plenary Session of the
12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party adopted the "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Guiding Principles for the Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization." Deng Xiaoping believed that:Liberalization itself is bourgeois. There is no proletarian or socialist liberalization. Liberalization is a confrontation, opposition, or modification of our current policies and systems. The actual situation is that liberalization is to lead us to the road of capitalism, so we use the term opposition to bourgeois liberalization. It doesn't matter what was used here or there; real politics requires us to write this in the resolution. I advocate opposition to liberalization, not only this time but also in ten or twenty years. This trend of thought cannot be resisted, and opening up will inevitably introduce many messy things. When combined, it has an impact on our four socialist modernizations that cannot be ignored.In December 1986, the
1986 Chinese student demonstrations broke out across mainland China, raising opinions on issues such as school management, reforming the country's political system, and chanting slogans such as "want
democracy." In mid-December,
Hu Yaobang, then general secretary of the
CCP Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee to discuss the situation of the student unrest and proposed a policy focusing on diversion. On December 27, Hu Yaobang attended the meeting of party committee secretaries of various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions and delivered a speech, reiterating the policy of focusing on guidance, which was endorsed by the majority of the Secretariat of the Central Committee and the party committee secretaries of various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. On December 27, 1986,
Hu Qiaomu,
Wang Zhen,
Deng Liqun, Bo Yibo, and others, the main initiators of anti-bourgeois liberalization, went to Deng Xiaoping's house to reflect on the seriousness of the student unrest. They unanimously believed it resulted from Hu Yaobang's appeasement and weak leadership. Hu Yaobang is believed to be responsible for the current situation. On December 30, Deng Xiaoping notified Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang,
Wan Li, Hu Qili,
Li Peng, He Dongcheng, and others to come to his home for talks and asserted: January 28 On the same day, the Central Committee of the CCP issued the "Notice on Several Issues Concerning the Current Opposition to Bourgeois Liberalization", stating that "the core of pursuing bourgeois liberalization is to negate the socialist system and advocate the capitalist system, which is to deny the leadership of the Communist Party."
Liu Binyan,
Fang Lizhi,
Wang Ruowang, and others were expelled from the party during this movement.
Ba Jin and others were publicly criticized. Gao Xingjian, a relatively junior playwright who had avant-garde works at the time, was also charged.
Movement end During the anti-liberalization movement, the primary energy of Zhao Ziyang, acting general secretary of the CCP Central Committee and then Premier of the State Council of China, was "almost devoted to how to prevent the anti-liberalization struggle from expanding; to control and limit leftist forces through anti-liberalization. Oppose reform and opening up." Zhao Ziyang was worried that the movement launched by Deng Liqun and others would impact the ongoing discussions on economic system reform and political system reform, as well as various fields such as
education,
science and
technology,
culture, and
rural areas. Therefore, he organized forces to engage in games and struggles with Deng Liqun and others. On April 28, 1987, Zhao Ziyang reported to Deng Xiaoping that some people opposed reform and opening up as "left" and used anti-liberalization to deny reform and opening up. He emphasized that this atmosphere was highly inconsistent with the
13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in the second half of 1987. From now on, we must focus on promoting reform and opening up to prepare public opinion for the convening of the Thirteenth National Congress. He suggested that the 13th National Congress be republished in 1980. Deng Xiaoping's "8.18 Speech" on "Reform of the Party and State Leadership System" on August 18. Deng Xiaoping agreed with Zhao Ziyang's opinion and asked him to give a speech on this issue. On May 13, 1987, the "
Propaganda,
Theory,
News, and Party School Cadres Meeting" was held in
Huairen Hall,
Zhongnanhai. More than 1,000 leading cadres from the above systems in
Beijing, central and state agencies, ministries, commissions, and above attended the meeting. At this meeting, Zhao Ziyang gave a "5.13 Speech" and seriously criticized the idea of extending the struggle against bourgeois liberalization to the economic field; on July 1, "People's Daily" republished Deng Xiaoping's "8.18 speech". After the publication of these two speeches, the "anti-bourgeois liberalization" movement ended, and reform and opening up once again became the mainstream of public opinion propaganda. == Movement follow-up ==